Process of separating germs, &amp;c., in making starch.



No. 664,259. Patented Dec. l8, I900.

T. GAUNT. PROCESS OF' SEPARATING GEBMS, 8m, IN MAKING STARBH.

(Application filed Sept. 1, 1896.) (No Model.)

steeped Corr; flapperlphuraus C Acid Wafer Coarsa JYi'iZZ Salt BrineConveyer .M'zter Pump Inf/enter Jamm UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS GAUNT, OF PEORIA, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF TWO-THIRDS TO \VILLIAMHAMLIN AND HARRY HAMLIN, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

PROCESS OF SEPARATING GERMS, 840., IN MAKING STARCH.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 664,259, dated. D b 18,1900.

Application filed September 1, 1896. klerial No. 604,510. (No specimens)corn various diiferent processes have been em- Y ploycd for separatingthe germs from the perispermand husks. The present process forms animprovement by which the germs may be thoroughly'and convenientlyseparated from the starch, perisperm, and husks or hulls by the use of abrine or other separating medium of density about to Baum,which causesthe germs to rise to the surface and the hulls to sink to the bottom.The complete process which forms the subject-matter of the presentapplication consists of several successive steps or subprocesses, alltending to the more ready and perfect separation of the germs and to theeconomy of the process.

Briefly stated, the present process is as follows: The corn after it hasbeen steeped in sulfurous-acid water is first rolled and broken, but notground, in certain mills, as will be more fully explained, and is thenthreshed to further loosen the germs and starch and run onto shakerscreens or sieves, where the starch liquor passes off from the groundcorn and where, preferably, the groundcorn is washed to free it as muchas possible from the starch. It is then run through squeezers orpressers,

which still further free the com'mingled bulls and germs from starch andwater. The hulls and' germs are then immersed in a separatortank in asolution of a gravity of from 10 to 15 Baum. This solution or medium maybe brine or any other solution possessing the desired density. Brine ispreferable because it is convenient, and to some extent it improves thefeed. The germs, coming into thetub, rise by their lesser gravity andare collected over a weir, with a portion of the separator medium. Theyare thencarefully washed upon shaker-sieves to recover the medium and tofree the germs from all traces of it. The hulls, settling to the bottomof the medium, are drawn off and similarly washed upon shakersieves. Thegerms are then ready to be dried and pressed to extract the oil or to betreated inauy other way desired. The hulls after being washed upon theshakerscreens are preferably reground with water in fine-grind mills,after which the starch, thereby freed from the hulls, is separated fromthe bulls in any desirable manner. The brine or separator medium whichruns through the screens upon which the germs and the hulls are washedis filtered to extract such starch as may have been carried ofi with itand then concentrated and returned to the medium-tank in order that themedium may be used over and over again; The starch-milk from theshaker-screens upon which the coarse-ground hulls and germs are firstreceived is ready to be treated with other starch-milk for theseparation of the feed and the gluten it may contain. Such, briefly, isa general outline of my new process, and I will now proceed to describethe various details of the process as illustrated'by the use of brinesolution in the separator,referring to the accornpanyingillustrativediagram. It must not be-supposed, h0wever,-that the accompanying diagramis intended inany way to show the details of the individual apparatusesor the arrangement in a factory, as such details must be determined ineach individual case and in no respect form an essential of my process.

. The corn after it has been steeped in sulfurous acid, and therebysoftened, is run with an additional amount-of weak sulfurous-acid orstarch water into a specially-dressed burmill C. The stones of this millare set so far apart that they press and roll the kernels, and so breakthem into coarse particles and to some extent loosen the germs from thestarch and the starch from the hulls; but no grinding takes place, norare the germs themselves in any way injured. After being thoroughlysteeped or soaked the germs, indeed, possess such toughness that theycan only be injured by direct crushing between two hard surfaces. Thedress and adjustment of the mill, as stated, are such that crushing orgrinding action cannot take place. From these breakin g-mills the groundcorn may be run through threshers, mixers, and centrifugal pumps to theshakers. In passing through the threshers, mixers, and pumps the germsare more thoroughly loosened from the adherent perisperm and the starchis to a large extent removed from the bulls. One thresher only, at D, isshown in the diagram. So far in the process the treatment is identicalto that described more in detail in another application, seriallynumbered 604,509, filed September 1, 1896, and pending concurrently withthis application. In falling upon the shaker-screen E the starch liquorruns through the screen, beneath which it is caught undiluted andcarried to a tank or well, as at O, for further treatment for theextraction of feed, starch, and gluten. On the lower portion E or onseparate shakers the commingled bulls and germs are thoroughly washedfree from the remaining starch liquor, so that the tailings from theseshaker-sieves contain little or no free starch. The starch-watercollected from the lower portion E of the shaker-sieve is concentratedby settling, as at N, and is then mixed with the heavy or undilutedstarchmilk, as at O. The commingled germs and broken hulls pass from theend of the shakerscreens E E into presses F, where most of the remainingwateris squeezed out. The water so expressed is concentrated bysettling, as at N, and yields an additional amount of starch and gluten.The pressed hulls and germs are then fed through suitable conveyingdevices H into the separatortank J. This separator-tank contains thebrine at a density of about 10 to'15 Ba'nm, and in this medium the germsquickly rise to the surface. The medium issupplied from the mediumtankand sulficient flow of the medium is preserved to give the propersurface eurren ts for carrying the germs to the weir end of theseparator, where they pass over the weir with a certain portion of themedium. The hulls, sinking to the bottom, are carried along the bottomof the separator to the far end, where they are drawn off with adeterminate portion of the medium by means of a meter pump or otherapparatnsp. It is therefore clear that the bulls and germs leave thepresses and enter the separator medium in a but slightly-moistcondition, practically without free starch liquor. The object of this isthat the hulls and germs being moist may not take up and absorb themedium, and, on the other hand, being freed from starch may not dilutethe medium by carryingintoit a quantity ofwater 0r liquor of differentcharacter or density. It the flow of the medium is not suflieient tocarry the hulls along the bottom of the separator, spirally-arrangedpaddles may be used to effect the proper circulation and to convey thehulls to the out-let. The details of the separator form the subject ofanother application for patent. The medium is recovered from the germsand bulls and the germs and hulls, respectively, washed free of themedium in the following manner: The germs, with the medium which flowsout of the separator with them,are received upon the upper portions of aset of shaker-screens L, and'the medium passing through the screen iscollected and run to a receiving-tub, as M. On the lower portions L ofthese shakers or on other ones sprinklers are arranged and the germsthoroughly washed free of the brine and of such starch liquor as may bemixed with it. This diluted brine liquor passing through the screen isfiltered, as at S, to extract the starch and is then concentrated invacuum-pans T to its original density and run into the medium-receivingtub M. Substantially the same treatment is given to the hulls, whichpass over shaker-sieves Q Q, are washed, and received in a tub or tank Rready for grinding and further treatment. The germs may be dried andpressed or otherwise treated. The hulls may be ground in finegrind millsand treated forstarch, gluten, and feed in any' desirable manner. Thestarch, (in cakes,) which is extracted by the filterpressS from thediluted brine, is broken up, as at V, and mixed with the starch-milkfrom the other sources, as at O. This starch-milk may be treated in theusual way for the extraction of starch, gluten, and the fine feed thathas passed through the sieves and is still retained by it. The medium ispumped from the receiving-tub M back to a medium-tank K ready to be usedover again. It is therefore clear that the medium fiowing from themediumtank K through the separatorJ and out of the separator J with the.germs and hulls is afterward recovered and sent back to the medium-tankat the same densityabout 15 Baum. There is little less of the medium. Avery slight loss is due to the fact that the germs and hulls, though wetwhen-introducd, absorb and retain some of the brine or other medium; butthis loss is inconsiderable and is readily compensated for by theaddition of fresh salt or brine from a supply-tank K to preserve thedesired quantity. Indeed, the slight amount of salt which passes withthe hulls into the feed tends to improve the feed, giving it a betterflavor and also tending to prevent it from souring.

In place of a brine medium any other solution may be used. For somereasons it is preferable to use a solution formed from the cornproducts, such as the steep-water solution from steeping the cornpreliminary to the breaking and threshing process. When this steepliquor is used, such portions as remain ultimately in the feed are of nodisadvantage Whatever, as all the products of the steep after beingconcentrated may with advantage be mixed with the feed and greatlyimprove its quality, as set forth in another application filed by meNovember 19, 1895, Serial No. 569,386, and pending concurrently withthis. tween using brine or other true solution and using the so-calledstarch solution in the separator, for the starch solution is not a truesolution, but a medium formed by the suspension of the starch particles,which quickly settle when the solution stands quiet- 1y. For this reasonit has been diflicult to loo IIO

There is a great distinction be- I I keep up a uniform de'nsityintheseparator in excess of'l2 Baum and constant stirring is necessary toprevent the starch from settling. from the hulls in a starch medium andall ;then allowed to stand for a few hours the ration of the germs andhulls.

application lies in the use of a true solutionwhich does not have to beviolently agitated to preserve its density and which'may be convenientlymade of much greater density than that at which a starch solution can besatisfactorily employed. In the morelimi'ted aspect of the presentprocess it is restricted to the use of brine or other substance foreignto the corn, but in its broader aspect may include any solution formedin the treatment of the corn-as, for instance, the steep solution oreven a glucose solution. Inany case it is desirable to recoverthesolution by washing it from the bulls, as the larger portion I of a truesolution held bythe hulls would finally run off from the starch-tableswith the gluten-water and from the glutensettlers into the sewer.

Iu' mentioning the addition of sulfurous-.

acid water in the mills and in other instances it must'not be understoodthat 'I am in any way limited to this, aswat'er or starch-water may beused Sulfurous-acid water is, however, of advantage in assisting theseparation of starch from the germs and bulls, and I have made this thesubject of claims in the 1 application filed herewith, as above referredits preferred form.

the enumerationof certain details and cer-.

' asoluble. substance foreign to the said core to. I also desire to, beunderstood that in using the term medium I mean to include anyseparating medium by which the germs are caused to float and the bullsto sink.

I have nowset forth my process anddiagrammatically illustrated anddescribed it in I havepurposely omitted tain variations which arematters of mere skill in the-art, because to set these forth at lengthwould obscure rather than make clear the more essential features; but

.I lay claim to the following: 1'. The improved process of treatingcereals, substantially as set forth: by breaking or otherwise reducingthe corn with water;

washing the commingled hulls and germs free of the starch liquorproduced; im mersi n g and separating thewashed hulls and germs-inaseparator medium'consistin'g ofa solution of Indeed,'if the germs areseparated als, of a suitable density; and thereafter recovering the-saidsolution from the said germs and the said bulls, and reintroducing itwith the separator, supplying the solution at the required density anddrawing it oft, independently of the amount of hulls and germs supplied.

2. The improvement in the process of treating cereals, substantially asset forth: which consists in coarsely breaking, or otherwise.

partially reducing without grinding the corn; washing the com mingledbulls and germs free from the starch liquor produced; immersing andseparating the hulls and germs in a separator medium consisting ofbrine, ct proper density; drawing off the germs from above and the bullsfrom below; supplying the solution at the required density and drawingit ofi, independently of the amount of hulls and germs supplied;recovering the said me dium from the said germs and hulls and washingthe said germs; thereafter grinding the bulls with water and separatingthe hulls from the starch liquor thereby produced. 3. The improvement inthe processof treating cereals, for the separation of germs,substantially as set forth which consists in wash- 1 ing the groundhulls andg'erms free from starch liquor; then immersing the ground hullsand germs in a brine solution of suitable density; floating andcollecting the said germs, and drawing off the said hulls from below;supplying the solution at the required density and drawing itmfi,independently of the amount of hulls and germs supplied thereafterrecovering the sa d solution by screen ing and washing; rest'o ing thesaid solution to'its original density, compensating, as required, forloss; and reusing the said solution for the furtherseparation of germsand hulls.

4.. In the process of treating cereals, the separation of germs, hulls,and starch liquor by first freeing the ground or otherwise preparedbulls and germs from starch liquor and immersing them in a solution ofsuitable density; and by supplying and drawing off the said solutionindependently of the amount of bulls and germs supplied thereto; wherebyany desired circulation may be established and maintained regardless ofthe amount of cereals treated.

5. The improvement in the process of treating cereals for the separationof germs, which consists in disintegrating the cereal and then washingaway the starch particles disengaged during the process ofdisintegration and mu:- ing the disintegrated grain freed from saidstarch particles with water the densityof which has been increased bythe addition-of salt or other soluble ingredient.

' In testimony whereof I have hereunto setmy hand at New York, N. Y.

THOMAS GAUNT. Witnesses:

' GEORGE H. SONNEBORN, HAROLD BINNEZ;

